Girl Meets Simple
by dancergirl1013
Summary: Maybe they were wrong. Maybe it had been simple all along.
"You okay?" asked Riley as she walked into her father's classroom and sat down next to her best friend.

There was no answer.

"Maya."

Nothing.

"Maya." Riley waved her hand in front of the other girl's face. "Are you there?"

"Sorry," said Maya, lifting her head. "You said something?"

"I asked if you were okay."

"I'm fine." Maya shrugged her shoulders and tried her best to muster a fake smile. Riley saw right through it.

"You're not." Riley shook her head and leaned over to place her hand on top of Maya's. "You've been really quiet lately. I'm worried."

Maya hesitated for a moment. Then she slowly pulled her hand out from under Riley's. She opened to mouth to speak just as Cory walked into the room and began teaching.

Maya was silent the entire class period. When class was over, she got up to leave but was stopped by Cory on her way out the door. "Can I talk to you for a second, Maya?" he asked.

Maya motioned to her friends for them to leave without her, mumbling that she'd catch up with them in a few minutes. She turned back towards Cory, looking at him expectantly.

"Is everything alright?" he asked. "You aren't acting like yourself."

She tried to insist that she was fine but Cory, much like his daughter, wasn't buying it. "You can talk to me, Maya," he assured her.

She let out a deep sigh. "I have feelings, Matthews."

"We all have feelings, Maya." Cory furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"Well, I don't like it."

Cory was about to speak but wasn't fast enough.

"Riley keeps telling me that I need to feel whatever I feel, but what if I don't want to? What if my feelings ruin our friendship? What if they tear us apart? What if-" Maya's voice got quieter. "What if I lose her?"

"This is about Lucas, right?" asked Cory, finally feeling like he understood what was going on.

"No," she said defensively. "Well… yes. But only partially." She honestly didn't know how to answer. Then she took a deep breath and said what she'd been wanting to say forever. "I don't like Lucas. Not in the way everyone thinks I do." And she meant it.

"Then I don't understand the problem," said Cory, confused again. "If you and Riley don't like the same guy, then there should be no conflict."

"I think I like someone else," Maya confessed. "And I've been keeping it a secret from Riley. I don't want to have any more secrets from her."

"Then tell her."

"I can't just tell her, Matthews. It's not that simple." Maya stared at the floor.

"Isn't it?" asked Cory.

Maya honestly didn't know.

…

Later that day, Riley and Maya were sitting at the bay window. "So what did my dad want to talk to you about after class?" asked Riley.

"He wanted to make sure I was okay."

"You're not okay, are you? I can tell."

"I don't know." Maya shrugged, unsure of whether or not she wanted to talk about this. Then she sighed. "Not really, no."

"I don't understand why you won't just tell me what's going on. You're my best friend, Maya. You can tell me anything."

"I know." Maya smiled weakly. "But I think this might be different."

"Is it about Lucas?" asked riley, jumping to the same conclusion her father had.

"In a way, I guess."

"Did he do something? Did he hurt you?" If he had, Riley was fully prepared to put him in his place. Or try to, at least. He may be strong, but nobody hurts her Peaches.

"No," answered Maya quickly. She definitely did not need to witness a Riley versus Lucas fight. That would not end well. "It's not that. He's a really great guy." Maya looked Riley in the eyes for what was probably the first time all day. "Which is why I think you should date him."

"But I don't like him like that," Riley lied. "I don't like him like you do. He's my brother."

"You don't love him like a brother. I know you don't." Maya took another deep breath. "But I do."

"I don't understand," said Riley. Maya had stepped aside for her. So she decided to step aside for Maya. She thought it would be best this way.

"You should date Lucas," Maya repeated, trying to assure her friend that she meant it. "Your feelings are stringer than mine."

"Okay," said Riley hesitantly. "But I still don't really understand. If you don't like Lucas, then why would you tell me you did?"

"I didn't tell you. You assumed and, I don't know, it was just easier to let you believe that then to tell you how I really felt."

"You have feelings for someone else?" Riley guessed, correctly this time.

Maya nodded, suddenly unable to form words.

"Okay, well why don't you tell them, whoever it is?"

Maya shook her head. "It's not really that simple."

"How do you know? Maybe it could be," suggested Riley.

"I don't think so, Riles."

Then, all of a sudden, Riley gasped and jumped up from her seat, sure she had figured out her friend's secret crush. "Farkle," she said.

"Excuse me."

"It's Farkle." Riley turned toward Maya. "You're in love with Farkle."

"Riley-" Maya tried to interject, but it was no use. Riley kept going.

"It makes perfect sense. And sure you might be somewhat of an unlikely couple…"

And kept going.

"…I doubt many people would see this coming. And you might have to fight Smackle or something…"

And kept going.

"But I think it could work out. I mean, Farkle's always been in love with you. He-"

"Riley," said Maya, louder this time, to pull her friend back to reality. "I don't like Farkle."

"Then it's Zay," Riley said without skipping a beat. "He-"

"No, Riles." Maya shook her head. "It's not Zay. I don't like Lucas, and I don't like either of those boys either." She took another deep breath and stood up, unsure if she really wanted to say what she was thinking. On one hand, she'd feel a lot better. On the other hand, she didn't want her friendship with Riley to change. She paced back and forth a few times before she could get herself to say the words. "I- I don't think I like boys."

"Oh," said Riley, taken slightly aback.

Tears started to form in the corners of Maya's eyes. Riley noticed this and immediately grabbed her hands and led her back to the bay window. "You're gay then?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess," Maya wiped the tears from her eyes, sniffling. "I mean, that's the word I've been using so…"

"You didn't tell me."

"No," said Maya. "I didn't."

"Why?" Riley was baffled. She and Maya were best friends. They should be able to tell each other anything. She wanted them to be able to tell each other anything.

"I- I didn't want it to ruin our friendship," Maya admitted.

"Did you really think it would?"

Maya burst into tears and Riley, who was starting to tear up herself, pulled her into a tight hug. The two stayed there for what seemed like hours. The two of them stayed there for what seemed like hours. Just the two of them. At the bay window. In their safe place. And Maya was filled with an overwhelming sense of relief, a feeling she hadn't felt in a very long time.

…

A few weeks passed. Everything was seemingly back to normal. Maya was still somewhat distant, especially around Riley, but overall she was happier. Riley, on the other hand, was feeling less and less like her usual self. She was still somehow able to put on a happy face, though. But Maya had a feeling something was up.

Fast forward a few more days and the girls were back at the bay window one day after school. "It's your turn," said Maya.

"My turn for what?" asked Riley.

"To tell me what's bothering you."

"There's nothing bothering me." Riley's eyes quickly darted to focus on her shoes.

"Yes, there is," Maya insisted.

Silence followed for a few moments.

"Okay, fine," Riley admitted. "You got me."

"So what's up?"

"Why is nothing simple anymore?"

Maya could see the pain in her friend's eyes and she felt it in her chest as if it were her own. "What's not simple, honey."

"It's just, I don't know, everything is just so confusing."

"What's confusing?" asked Maya. "If you tell me, maybe I'll be able to help."

"It's Lucas," said Riley. She paused for a moment before raising her head to look at Maya. "And you."

"Me?" Maya was taken aback. Why would Riley be confused by her?

"You're gay, right?"

Those were probably the last words Maya expected to hear. "Yeah, Riley. We've been over this."

"But I'm not. I'm not gay. I like Lucas. Or I did, at least. Maybe I still do. I don't know." The words rushed out of her mouth almost faster than she could think them.

"Woah, Riles. Slow down." Maya placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. "Just because I'm gay, that doesn't mean that you have to be gay, too."

"The person you have feelings for, it's me, isn't it?"

Crap. Maya was speechless. She felt trapped, boxed into a corner with no escape. Riley wasn't supposed to find out. Maya knew if she did, nothing would ever be the same again.

"You don't have to say anything, Maya. I know it's true. It makes so much sense. It's the only thing that makes sense"

"Riley-"

"I have feelings for Lucas. I-," Riley sighed. "I don't know exactly what those feelings are but they're there."

"Riley, you should date Lucas."

"I also think I might have feelings for you," Riley admitted. "They're different from the feelings I have for Lucas. Stronger, maybe. I think they've been there for a really long time, but I never really noticed because we're best friends. Just best friends. I never considered the possibility that maybe I wanted us to be more than that. But then you, you know, you came out." Riley paused and took a much needed deep breath. "But I'm not gay. I liked Lucas."

There was silence for a few moments as Maya took in everything Riley had just said.

"Riles," said Maya. "You need to feel whatever you're feeling. Isn't that what you kept telling me?" Riley nodded. "So take your time, follow your heat, and feel whatever you feel. But just remember, gay and straight are not the only options. You can have feelings for multiple people and they don't all have to be the same gender. There's bisexuality, and pansexuality, and-"

"That."

"What?"

"Pansexual," clarified Riley. "I think that might be what I am."

"Okay," said Maya, her mind reeling from the conversation she was having.

"What do I do now?"

"Whatever feels right." Maya shrugged her shoulders, wishing she had a more concrete answer to give her friend.

Riley hesitated at first. Then she reached over and placed her hand on Maya's. She stared into the other girl's eyes and gently placed a kiss on her lips. "That felt right to me." It was amazing how good that one simple kiss had felt.

Maya smiled. "Me too."

Maybe they were wrong. Maybe it had been simple all along.


End file.
